Morning thought

Play your part in the comedy, but don't identify yourself with your role!

Garden and Cosmos, Seascapes

Yesterday Scott and I went to see the IMAX movie Deep Sea 3D, which was a bit disappointing because i thought it would focus on the Deep Sea (like this amazing video) but instead focused on more familiar aquatic habitats. In any case, the visuals were stunning. Before the movie we got lunch at Java Green, an eco-friendly cafe which gets great reviews in the DC Area (voted best Vegetarian restaurant in the "Best of DC 2008" from the City Paper). All of the food and smoothies/juice bar looked delicious yet it was very crowded, and the curry noodles I ordered are surely not one of their specialties, but still its good that there is a cafe that is organic, sustainable, and vegetarian in DC.

We also went to the Freer and Sackler galleries, which I really enjoyed. I had been wanting to go to these galleries for a while now. A lot of the art was influenced by Buddhism, and I enjoyed reading about the different depictions of the Buddha and other gods and goddesses. Also the Chinese Landscapes were my favorite, I loved the black and white forests, mountains, rivers, and trees. We saw two exhibits, Seascapes, and the Garden and the Cosmos: the Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. I tried to let the concepts of the universe represented in the paintings radiate into my soul. I especially liked the last series of 7 paintings at the end of the exhibit. Each of the 7 paintings had a similar, yet different, cosmic ocean in the background. The exhibit also described the importance of hatha yoga and its teachings in many of the paintings. To learn more, click on the "Interactive Feature" on the exhibit's website. I find the "Chakras of the Subtle Body" explanation very informative.

Seascapes was a beautiful exhibit. Sugimoto's photographs, gelatin silver prints, captured so much detail of the sea. My favorite of his photographs was the darkest one, where the sea is virtually black and the sky is a dark gray.

I picked up a brochure on this campground, Abram's Creek Lodge, an eco-friendly retreat which seems peaceful and holistic. Hopefully I will get a chance to visit here one day.

Stories from the Woods

Current Gallery - A contemporary gallery I went to when I was chilling in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore a few weekends ago. The exhibit I saw was titled "Stories from the Woods" and I really enjoyed the beautiful interpretations of nature and storytelling. The image above is from their website. Their website also includes many other good websites under their list of links.

In addition to the Gallery, I really enjoyed visiting the Inner Harbor. There are a ton of restaurants and good places to shop, and it is also home to the National Aquarium. Other things to do in the Baltimore area include the Ladew Topiary Gardens, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Visionary Art Museum, and the Maryland Science Center. Baltimore is a great, interesting city.

More pumpkin info!

Pumpkin Seeds:

Did you know that one-quarter cup of pumpkin seeds will supply 17% of the daily value for zinc? Zinc is a trace mineral that, although only required in very small amounts on a daily basis, is absolutely essential for optimal health. Zinc's relationship to improved immune function has recently been receiving a lot of press. Many types of immune cells require the presence of zinc to perform at their best. Zinc's immune-boosting activities include: upregulating the activity of natural-killer cells that kill tumor and microbial cells; and increasing the production of defensive T-cells, a type of white blood cell that helps reject foreign tissue, regulates immunity and controls the production of antibodies. Some studies have also shown that zinc lozenges may be helpful in reducing the duration of the common cold. Enjoying a satisfying mid-day snack of pumpkin seeds is a great way to be on your way to getting your zinc requirements for the day!

A Pumpkin Party! Complete with pumpkin beer, pumpkin treats, and everything pumpkiny. Next Thursday, in DuPont, Pumpkin Groove at 1633 P St. Click Here for the link to the facebook event page.

Another story from npr, The Many Faces of The Great Pumpkin, including numerous delicious pumpkin recipes.

Inspirational Quotes: "First say to yourself what you would be, then do what you have to do."

"Assess your skills. Plan your goals. Engage a mentor or coach. Build/sustain relationships. Identify opportunities. Take risks."

Channeling all my energy into something positive

Moby, one of my favorites, has a cool new single: Ohh Yeah

Little Bit by Lykke Li, another good song I heard today.

I'm possibly going to loda at Gallery in Silver Spring for my birthday.

The Capital Science Lectures are free and open to the public, and are held at the Carnegie Institute at 1530 P St. NW. Click on the link for the schedule.

The Eastern Market in DC includes a farmers market, an arts and crafts fair, and a flea market. I haven't been yet but am planning to go on one of these fall weekends before the weather gets too terribly chilly. The website has a information about the history of the market and the exhibitors and the schedule.

Buddhist quote of the day: Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. . . . Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide. -Buddha

Taoist quote of the day from the Tao Te Ching:
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.

note: I am trying to get back to my spiritual side in life with more meditation and metaphysical reading, and hopefully this will be reflected in my blog. The taoist quote reflects my contemplation of duality and non duality lately. I have been seeing this concept in small things in my daily life, that life is always an ebb and flow, like a wave in the ocean, or a sine wave on a graph. Everything yields to its opposite, and without one you could not have the other. Including self and no-self (anatta in Pali). I'm still trying to figure out how to transcend duality (which is one of the goals of enlightenement), if thats possible, or if I already have. And by searching for it maybe I'm actually getting farther from it. Maybe setting a "goal of enlightenment" is all wrong to begin with. Is it already there?

Flaxseeds and biochemistry

I receive a daily email from the "World's Healthiest Foods" website, which includes a recipe and a Q&A. I really liked this answer to a question about flaxseeds, because it described some of the biochemistry of omega-3s which I was previously unaware of.

While flaxseeds are an excellent source of omega-3 fat, they only contain one basic member of the omega-3 fat family. In the case of flaxseeds, virtually all of the omega-3 fat is found in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (often abbreviated "ALA"). This specific kind of omega-3 fat makes up about 50% of the oil in flaxseeds.

The omega-3 assembly line starts with ALA

So that you can better understand how flaxseeds that feature a concentration of ALA impacts their potential ability to be an overall good source of omega-3s, let's start with a basic chemistry review of the omega-3 family of fats. Omega-3s are a very diverse group of fats. Yet, all of the members fall into a basic pattern that can be imagined as a kind of metabolic assembly line. Fats can be measured in length according to the number of carbon atoms that they contain. The omega-3 fatty acid ALA, featured in flaxseeds, contains 18 carbons, making it the shortest of the omega-3 fats, and hence the simplest. It retains a position at the beginning of the assembly line with our omega-3 metabolism starting with this compound as a building block.

ALA gets elongated into other omega-3 fatty acids

If another pair of carbon atoms gets added on to ALA (a process called "elongation" in biochemistry, and a process that is carried out by enzymes called elongases), it gets ready to become EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), another important member of the omega-3 family. If yet another pair of carbons are added to EPA, it in turn gets ready to become DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) a third important member of the omega-3 family.

ALA gets desaturated into other omega-3 fatty acids

The reason I say that these omega-3 fats "get ready" to turn into other forms is because getting longer is not the only requirement for conversion of one omega-3 to another. A second requirement is what's called "increased desaturation." During this process, the omega-3 fat gets altered chemically so that its carbon atoms are connected together in a new way that provides more reactivity to the fat. This new kind of connection is called double-bonding. For ALA (our starting point for the omega-3 assembly line) to become EPA, two new double bonds must be added in addition to the 2-carbon atom increase in length.

The role of other nutrients in omega-3 metabolism The process of lengthening and changing, of elongating and desaturating, the chemical bonds in omega-3 fat is complex, and many nutrients are required to bring it about. To get from ALA to EPA, for example, the required nutrients are: vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C, zinc, and magnesium.

Nutrient deficiencies can block omega-3 metabolism

What happens if an individual is deficient in one or more of the above nutrients? The answer is simple: that individual cannot convert linolenic acid very efficiently into the other longer-chain omega-3 fats. A person with known deficiencies in most of the above-cited nutrients (vitamin B3, B6, C, and the minerals zinc and magnesium) would not be able to get maximum benefit from flaxseeds' omega-3s because he or she would not be able to effectively convert the ALA upward into the other omega-3 fats. Being able to effectively convert ALA upward into these other omega-3 fats is very important to our health, and when we cannot effectively accomplish this task and don't compensate by eating foods that are high in EPA and DHA, we can significantly increase our risk of health problems.

In the above situation, many healthcare practitioners would ask for an increase in the omega-3 supportive nutrients (the B complex vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, and magnesium) while at the same time also recommending a different source of omega-3s than flaxseeds, such as preformed EPA and DHA found in cold-water fish such as salmon and sardines, until the nutrient deficiencies were resolved. Yet, in cases where the assembly line seems to be functioning properly, many healthcare practitioners opt for flaxseeds and other ALA-rich foods since providing the body with the compound that is at the beginning of the assembly line allows the body to best decide the exact types and proportions of omega-3s it wants to create.

Fiber: How it is digested and why it is important for health

Another one of the best Q&As from the past month or two that I have read in my daily "World's Healthiest Foods" email. -thanks to Aunt Joan for showing me the website

"Fiber" is a term that sounds quite simple and straightforward, but it's actually been a term of great controversy in nutrition. Traditionally, researchers have described fiber as a group of polysaccharides that resisted breakdown in the digestive tract. However, this definition is not completely accurate since (1) polysaccharides are not the only type of nutrients that share the characteristics of fiber, and (2) many fibers can actually be used by the body after being fermented by bacteria in the large intestine. I like to think about fibers as unique nutrients that belong to several different chemical categories but that share in common one special feature-their tendency to go through the digestive tract in a way that is well protected from digestion and allows them to play roles that other parts of food cannot play.

Another key identifying characteristic of fibers is their exclusive presence in plants and plant foods. Animal foods do not provide us with fiber, only plant foods do. The carbohydrate fibers include celluloses, hemicelluloses, pectins, and fructans (polyfructoses). The primary non-carbohydrate fibers are the lignins that make up an important part of many cell wall structures in plants. Many of the World's Healthiest plant foods contain one or more of these dietary fibers. You'll find dietary fibers in vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. It's the unprocessed, whole food form of these foods that allows them to provide you with their fiber benefits, however, heavily processed, fiber-rich foods will often lose their fiber-rich qualities.

Much has been written about the health-promoting benefits of fiber, and ample numbers of studies support an association between high-fiber diets and a decrease in risk of many types of cancers, including colon cancer and breast cancer. Some of this benefit comes from the ability of fiber to bind and remove toxins and to promote healthy digestion. Recent research suggests, however, that fiber provides its health-protecting benefits in other ways as well, and one of the most important appears to be its ability to promote healthy intestinal tract bacteria.

Your large intestine contains a multitude of beneficial bacteria that are required for your body's health. They are called the "friendly flora," or the beneficial symbiotic microbes, and they support the health of your whole body by promoting healthy immune function and providing important molecules to your intestinal tract cells to promote their growth, thus sustaining overall intestinal tract integrity. These microbes use some of the fibers you eat as fuel for their own growth, and through their own metabolism produce molecules called short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). SCFA production by this friendly flora has been associated with a decrease in cancerous colonic cells, reduction of serum cholesterol, and maintenance of healthy blood sugar levels and healthy intestinal tract cell walls.

Not all fiber is fermented by the friendly flora in your intestinal tract. Some, as discussed above, goes through your entire system unchanged, binding toxins and waste products as it goes, and promoting healthy elimination. In either case, fibers are unique nutrients when it comes to their health benefits. In order to obtain all of their health advantages, however, it's important for your diet to provide you with a plentiful amount of fiber. This amount is at least 25 grams per day for adult women and 38 grams per day for adult men. The heavily processed nature of the average U.S. diet makes these goals virtually unattainable, and U.S. adults average less than 15 grams of fiber per day. But if you follow the Healthiest Way of Eating, and enjoy a wide range of the World's Healthiest Foods, you'll likely attain-and even surpass-these goals.

An Autumnal Feast

An Autumnal Feast: This NPR story gets its own post because I love the fall so much especially the vegetables in season right now, and the author does a good job describing all of these delicious seasonal foods. This article has a ton of good recipes in it too!! Yum :)

Pumpkin Spice

Fall is my favorite season. I took this picture hiking last weekend in the Shennandoah national park. :)

A link to the Environmental Working Group. "At EWG, our team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers pores over government data, legal documents, scientific studies and our own laboratory tests to expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions. Our research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know."

The Alexandria-Arlington Extra from the Washington Post

The Washingtonian Website..I like searching for restaurants and spas on this site

TED Ideas Worth Spreading. Inspired talks by the world's greatest thinkers and doers. I posted this earlier but I think its worth repeating!

I want one of these. A link to the page for Kyu Che, an architect/artist based in San Francisco. His architectural research involves high tech portable capsule habitats that explore the relationship between man and nature from an eastern philosophical point of view while utilizing 21st century technologies to create bionic systems that are ecologically harmonious.

Express Night Out from the Washington Post. I love looking for cool events and stuff to do!

Wiki link of the day: Luke Vibert. Luke Vibert is a British recording artist and producer known for his work in many subgenres of electronica. -thanks Bloom

Wiki link of the day 2: Damien Hirst is an English artist and the most prominent of the group that has been dubbed "Young British Artists" (or YBAs).

I thought this was funny: Homeless Polar Bears converge on Washington DC

Blogging God Steve Pavlina Interview, by the author of one of my other favorite blogs, Zen Habits! I was excited about this :)

A superfood I hadn't heard about previously, Mesquite Powder. The website, Live Superfoods, seems like a good resource to learn more about superfoods as well.

Our organic mesquite is a nutritious powder with a sweet, nutty flavor, suitable for use in baking or as a seasoning on food and in drinks. The powder is ground from the seed pods of the mesquite plant, also known as algorroba (Prosopis juliflora), a leguminous plant found in arid areas around the world, including parts of South America and the southwestern U.S. In desert areas of the Americas, mesquite seed pods have long been used as a food source by the indigenous peoples, who traditionally ground them into a powder to be used as a flour or processed into a sweetener, a sweet beverage, or a fermented alcoholic drink. Mesquite is also highly effective in balancing blood sugar. Because its sugar is in the form of fructose, which does not require insulin for metabolism, mesquite helps maintain a constant blood sugar level for a sustained period of time.

Forecast Earth Videos from the Weather Channel. "News, science and debate advancing sustainable life on a changing planet.
This particular video details how one citizen was able to actually cause his power meter to run backwards and put power back ON the grid. He produces more energy that his family uses. This is exactly what the article I read in Ode magazine this summer (see the "Power Shift" post) was talking about as the future of energy use in the country. This is a very exciting video, and there are tons more good ones on this site, as well as other information about sustainability. Here's the link to the Forecast Earth main page.

Daily Links

These are some sites I like to check everyday, if I have enough time. Note that some of them I have already posted on previous blog entries.

My iGoogle page complete with National Parks picture of the day, Meditation quotes by Osho, Buddhist Thought of the Day, Ansel Adams Nature Photo of the Day, Nietzsche quotes, Aristotle Quote of the Day, National Geographic Photo of the Day, the current moon phase, and the weather.

My myGaia page with Horoscope and Feng Shui tip

The Wikipedia Main Page

Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA

News on NPR and BBC

Treehugger "the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream."

Stardate online...a daily stargazing tip

Weather Underground a great weather site including astronomy info

Zen Habits simple productivity

Think Arete concentrated wisdom for the busy self actualizer

Scientific American the magazine's website

SciCentral A collection of top science stories

Minerals

Asheville

My mom and I visited Asheville last weekend and the trip was wonderful. One of the best parts was eating dinner at the Grove Park Inn, even though it was rainy, the view was beautiful. This is a picture from their website (I forgot my camera), but I think that may have actually been the table we sat at! I also spent time visiting a few holistic medicine centers and schools in Asheville, including Blue Lotus Ayurveda, and we also walked around the downtown area to see the shops and other restaurants. The Grove Arcade was very nice too, I got a piece of rose quartz from their mineral and crystal shop.